After a slight delay, Samsung’s One UI 6.0 beta program is now open for the Galaxy S23 series in Germany, South Korea, and the US. Interested users can sign up through the Samsung Members app to get an early taste of the new One UI version, which brings Android 14 to the Galaxy family. Unsurprisingly, it contains tons of new features and changes. Here’s everything the first One UI 6.0 beta update brings to your Galaxy S23.
One UI 6.0 visual changes
The latest version of Samsung‘s One UI software brings significant changes to the quick panel layout. The company has added dedicated buttons for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth at the top. Dark mode and Eye comfort shield find new spots under the brightness slider at the bottom. A customizable space in the middle houses other quick settings buttons.
By default, swiping down from the top of the screen shows your recent notifications and a compact quick panel with just six buttons. But with One UI 6.0, you can change this behavior to instantly access the full quick panel by swiping down from the right end of the top of the screen. Swiping down from the other end shows your notifications.
The compact quick panel now shows the brightness slider, while notifications appear in individual cards. The new One UI version also lets you sort notifications by time. If you’re listening to music or watching a video, album art (when available) will cover the entire media controller in the notification panel (via SamMobile).
This update also lets you move the clock on the lockscreen wherever you want. Samsung has removed “Galaxy” and “Samsung” prefixes from the names of some first-party apps to make app icon labels look simpler and cleaner on the home screen. The default system font, meanwhile, is now more stylish. Note that your Galaxy S23 will restart with the new font only if you have selected the default font in Settings. Otherwise, you will see your current font after updating to One UI 6.0 beta.
New camera features
One UI 6.0 brings plenty of changes and improvements to your Galaxy camera experience. You can now create custom camera widgets that open the camera in your selected shooting mode. When in Photo or Pro mode, you can quickly switch between the camera resolution using a dedicated resolution button at the top of the screen. A new level line now appears alongside grid lines to help you keep your pictures level. You get more location choices for the watermark as well.
Picking the right video size is now easier than ever thanks to a new pop-up that gives you all the available options. Applying filters and face effects is also a lot more convenient with the new dial, which replaces the slider. It allows you to make more precise adjustments. Additionally, Samsung has added new auto FPS settings for videos, letting you record brighter videos in low-light conditions. You can choose to turn off auto FPS, use it for 30 fps videos only, or use it for both 30 fps and 60 fps videos.
This update gives you more control over the capture speed and photo quality as well. You can choose Maximum optimization to get the highest quality pictures. However, this means stronger post-processing, affecting the capture speed. If you want to capture photos in quick succession, you can choose Minimum optimization to lower the amount of post-processing. The Medium option gives you a balance of speed and post-processing while capturing photos.
One UI 6.0 separates the document scanning feature from the Scene optimizer. This allows you to scan documents even when the Scene optimizer is turned off. An Auto scan feature automatically scans the document whenever you take a picture of a document. You can quickly edit the scanned file to rotate or align it for the best result.
Gallery improvements
One UI 6.0 lets you save clipped images as stickers in the Gallery for later use. You can now add or remove pictures and videos from stories while viewing them. A new thumbnail view that appears when swiping up from the bottom of the screen lets you edit your stories. Moving photos and videos is now a breeze with drag-and-drop support. You can use one hand to touch and hold the file and the other to select the destination folder.
Checking the details of photos and videos (swipe up from the bottom of the screen) suggests quick edits that you can apply immediately. Meanwhile, manual edits can be adjusted even after saving. You can make changes to drawings, stickers, and text. And if you mistakenly make an unwanted edit, you can quickly undo or redo the change.
Samsung has improved the photo editor layout to organize various tools. The changes make it easier to find and apply the most used tools. For example, Straighten and Perspective options have been combined in the Transform menu. You can also use drawing tools to create custom stickers that are more personal to you. One UI 6.0 gives you new backgrounds and styles when adding text to photos.
Improved multitasking, content sharing, and accessibility
One UI 6.0 keeps pop-up windows open when you go to the Recents screen and lets you get back to them after leaving the Recents screen. This ensures more efficient multitasking. When sharing a photo or video from your Galaxy device, a preview at the top of the Share panel lets you verify that you aren’t sharing the wrong file. Moreover, sharing content from some apps gives you additional options. For example, if you are sharing a website’s link from Google Chrome, you can choose to share a screenshot of the website along with the link.
This update also improves accessibility features. You can now customize magnification windows to see full screen, partial screen, or between the two. You also have multiple thickness options for the cursor that appears while editing text. Additionally, Samsung has provided a link to the Samsung Accessibility web page in the Accessibility settings where you can learn more about its accessibility features and efforts.
Improvements in system apps
The weather widget is now more dynamic with an illustrative display of the current weather condition, while the background changes colors depending on the time of the day. The weather app now shows more information too. You can use the interactive map view to check the local weather conditions of any place, even if you don’t know the name of the place. Simply swipe around the map and tap on a location to check the current weather of that location.
Samsung Keyboard sees emojis updated with fresh design, while Samsung Internet adds support for background video playback even if you close the tab or exit the app. On large-screen devices such as tablets, Samsung’s browser app can now simultaneously show two tabs.
Other miscellaneous features and changes in One UI 6.0
One UI 6.0 remembers if you use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi while Airplane mode is on. Your phone will retain the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi setting the next time you enable Airplane mode. Accessing battery settings is also now easier with a new menu in the Settings app. Last but not least, Samsung now lets you automatically block unknown apps from being installed. The new Auto Blocker also checks for malware and blocks USB connections from sending malicious commands to your phone.
2023-08-11 15:06:06